Electrical connector of integral sheet metal construction



Nov. 4, 1969 R. E. LAWLOR ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR OF INTEGRAL SHEET METAL CONSTRUCTlON Filed Feb. 1, 1968 E'aj A [v 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 f7 go 1 NVEN TOR. .POBEETELAWLOR gym Nov. 4, 1969 R. E. LAWLOR 3,477,060

ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR OF INTEGRAL SHEET METAL CONSTRUCTlON Filed Feb. 1, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet Z I NVENTOR. POBEPTZ'. LA woe United States Patent Office US. Cl. 339266 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Wire clamping electrical connector embodying opposed parts integrally connected by a resilient web functioning as a hinge and having wire-clamping jaws with respective integral tails functioning (1) as lever arms to bring the jaws together in clamping engagement with a wire, and (2) as anchor tabs to be secured to a support and thereby to hold the jaws in the wire-clamping positions.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION Electrical connectors embodying separate wire-clamping jaws hinged together and having anchor tails as described above, are known in the art and have been patented in the following US. patents: 3,118,720, Jan. 21, 1964, Lawlor; 3,138,422, June 23, 1964, Lawlor; 3,351,- 889, Nov. 7, 1967, Lawlor and Beaudion.

Such connectors are somewhat expensive in construction, the simplest method of manufacture yet devised being that of slicing narrow sections from extruded strips having the proper cross-section to provide the jaws and tails and also to develop a hinge when coupled together.

With the foregoing in mind, the general object of the present invention is to provide a connector of the general type described above, and which is of inexpensive construction and especially suitable in connectors of small size.

DESCRIPTION In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a connector embodying one form of the invention; shown in its open position;

FIG. 2 is an end view of the same;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the connector in closed position, secured to a support, and with the end of a conductor wire clamped between its jaws;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the same on line 44 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the same;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary detail of a jaw window in section on an enlarged scale;

FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of a modified form of the invention, in open position;

FIG. 8 is an end view of the same;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the connector wire with a conductor clamped between its jaws;

FIG. 10 is a plan view of the same; and

FIG. 11 is an end view taken on line 1111 of FIG. 9.

Referring now to FIGS. 1-6 of the drawings, I have shown therein, as an example of one form in which the invention may be embodied, a one-piece connector A of strap metal, adapted to be secured by a fastener F to a support body B and, when thus secured, to hold the end of a conductor wire C with a clamping action.

Connector A comprises a pair of jaws 10 and 11, integrally connected by a flexible web 12 to provide a bendable hinge and having respective apertures 15 through which fastener F can be inserted into body B. Jaw 10 rises from tail 13 in the form of an arch of inverted dihedral-angular V-form, comprising upwardly 3,477,060 Patented Nov. 4, 1969 converging legs joined by a curved apex bight 16. Tail 13 is formed as a continuation of one leg, and hinge web 12 is formed as a continuation of the other leg. Jaw 11 comprises respective arms 17 and 18 joined by and diverging from an arched bridge 19 of substantially larger radius than apex bight 16, the arms subtending a dihedral angle. Arms 17 and 18 are provided with respective jaw windows 20 and 21 having a common axis which crosses well above the apex bight 16 when the connector is in the open position of FIG. 1, whereby the bared wire end of conductor C can be freely inserted through the windows 20, 21, clearing the apex bight 16, as illustrated in FIG. 1. In the open position of the connector, leg 18 extends from hinge web 12 in diverging relation to the adjacent leg of jaw 10, and the bisector axis of arms 17, 18 is tilted at a substantial angle (e.g. 45 with reference to the bisector axis of the legs of jaw 10.

In the closed position of the connector, as in FIG. 3, the web 12 is bent into a more fully closed loop, and the jaw 11 straddles the jaw 10 with its arms 17, 18 substantially parallel to the legs of jaw 10, with its bisector axis substantially coincident with that of jaw 10, and with its bridge 19 closed down toward apex bight 16 and substantially registering therewith. The bared wire end of conductor C is then deformed between the apex bight 16 below, and the bridge 19 and upper surfaces of windows 20, 21 above. The deformation of the wire produces therein a wave-form kink 22 which locks the conductor C to the connector A so as to secure the conductor against becoming detached.

As shown in FIG. 6, each window 20, 21 is rimmed by a thickened, rounded lip 23, providing a pressure-applying surface which engages the conductor wire smoothly, cooperating with the rounded, pressure-applying surface of apex bight 16 to apply deforming pressure without cutting into the wire. The deforming pressure, which is maintained in the installed connector by the levering action of the anchored tails 13, 14, provides good electrical connection between the wire and the connector.

FIGS. 7-10 illustrate a modified form of the invention in which a connector A1 is formed in one piece of strap metal, wherein a pair of jaws 30, 31 are formed integrally on the free ends of tails 33, 34 which at their opposite ends are integrally joined by a hinge web 32. Tail 33 is bowed away from tail 34 in its intermediate portion, so that its jaw 30 will tend to assume a position above the level of a body B until it is pressed downwardly by mating jaw 31 upon attachment of the connector to body B, and jaw 30 will thereby be springloaded upwardly so as to maintain a constant spring pressure upwardly against a bared conductor wire clamped between the jaws.

Jaw 30 is of dihedral trapezoidal form, comprising legs 36 and 37 extending upwardly from base tail 33, the, leg 36 inclined outwardly and the leg 37 inclined inwardly with reference to the open center of the connector, and the two legs joined by a bend and subtending an obtuse dihedral angle to define an outwardly protruding wedge-like shoulder 38. Jaw 30 further includes a reentrant leg 39 which converges upwardly with reference to leg 37 and is joined thereto by an apex bight 40 in the center of which is an upwardly opening notch 41 adapted to receive the bared wire end of conductor C and to cradle it as the upper jaw 31 is brought down into clamping engagement with the wire. Upper jaw 31 comprises a pair of downwardly diverging, dihedral-angularly related arms 43 and 44, the latter integrally joined to upper tail 34 and projecting upwardly therefrom, and the two arms 43 and 44 joined by an arched bridge. Joined to outer arm 43 by a bend 46 is an obtuse dihedral-angularly related lip which is divided by a slot 47 in the lip 3 and in the bend 46 to provide a pair of latching fingers 48.

As the connector is closed upon the wire end of conductor C, latching fingers 48 of upper jaw 31 will straddle the wire end and will engage the upper legs 37 of lower jaw 30, being thereby deflected outwardly with a resilient yielding action, and will pass downwardly over shoulder 38 and spring inwardly beneath the shoulder with a latching and camming action which develops a spring-loading of jaws 30, 31 against conductor C, the bared wire end thereof being then engaged between the edges of the jaws at the bottom and top of notch 41 and slot 47 respectively. This spring-loading will augment the spring-loading developed in tails 33, 34 by the action of a fastener F inserted through tail apertures and clamping the tails together against support body B, with lower tail 33 flattened from its unstressed bowed form. In closing the connector, the end of the conductor wire, if extended far enough into the connector, will be engaged by the upper, inner jaw arm 44 on the inner side of lower jaw while the wire end on the outer side of apeX bight 40 is engaged by the edge of upper jaw arm 43 at the top of slot 47, whereby the wire is bent downwardly across apex bight 40 and the tip of the wire is yieldingly pressed between the inner arm 44 and the inner leg 39 of the respective jaws as indicated in FIG. 9. The clamping pressure will tend to bend the lower jaw 30 downwardly (the jaw flexing at shoulder 38 and in legs 36, 37) and to seat the free end of reentrant leg 39 against base tail 33 so as to stiffen the resistance of the lower jaw. Also, the inner arm 44 of the upper jaw may spring outwardly to a slightly bowed condition (exaggerated in FIG. 9) under the pressure of the wire tip and the latching engagement of fingers 48 beneath shoulders 38, thus contributing to the spring-loaded clamping action upon the conductor wire.

I claim:

1. An electrical connector of one-piece metal strip construction, comprising:

opposed tails having respective fastener apertures and adapted to be brought together in closed positions and held therein against a support body by a fastener inserted into said body through said apertures, one of said tails being a base tail to be seated against said body, and the other being a movable tail to be closed adjacent to said base tail;

male and female wire-clamping jaws integrally joined to said base tail and movable tail respectively;

said male jaw being of inverted dihedral-angular V-form, comprising legs projecting into the space between the jaws in converging relation and joined by an apex bight, and said female jaw being of arched form projecting from the plane of said movable tail on the side away from said base tail jaw and comprising respective arms joined by an arched bridge and diverging toward said male jaw in positions such as to embrace the same in the closed position of the connector;

said female jaw having an opening to receive a conductor wire and having pressure-applying surfaces disposed on opposite sides of said apex bight in the closed position of the connector, operable to apply pressure to the conductor wire on opposite sides of said bight so as to press the wire firmly against said bight and to deform the wire sufliciently to anchor the conductor to the connector;

each of said tails and its respective jaw constituting a respective half of the connector;

and a looped web integrally joining said halves and flexible so as to operate as a hinge whereby said halves may be pressed together so as to close said jaws upon a conductor wire while holding said jaws in positions for mating said male jaw into said female aw. 2. A connector as defined in claim 1, wherein said looped hinge web is joined directly to said jaws.

3. A connector as defined in claim 2, wherein said female jaw has a closed window in both of its said arms, said windows having a common axis extending transversely of the bisector axis of said jaw.

4. A connector as defined in claim 3, wherein said female jaw arms have respective raised lips of rounded cross-section rimming the respective windows and defining said pressure-applying surfaces of said female jaw.

5. A connector as defined in claim 1, wherein said looped hinge web is joined directly to the arms of said jaws remote from the free ends of said tails and is disposed substantially in the plane of said base tail, said remote jaw arms subtending a dihedral angle diverging from said hinge web in the open position of the connector, and being closely adjacent and substantially parallel to one another in the closed position.

6. A connector as defined in claim 1, wherein said looped hinge web is joined directly to said tails;

7. A connector as defined in claim 1, wherein said looped hinge web is joined directly to said tails and wherein said female jaw opening is an open slot in the arm remote from said looped web.

8. A connector as defined in claim 1, wherein said looped hinge web is joined directly to said tails;

and wherein said male jaw has a notch traversing said apex bight in a direction parallel to the major longitudinal axis of the connector and adapted to receive and cradle a conductor wire in position for clamping between said jaws. 9. A connector as defined in claim 1, wherein said looped hinge web is joined directly to said tails and said jaws are joined to respective free ends of said tails;

and wherein said jaws are of trapezoidal configuration in side elevation, said male jaw having an obtuse dihedral angular shoulder projecting as a free extremity of the respective half of the connector;

and wherein the female jaw has a pair of terminal fingers that arelaterally spaced so as to define said jaw opening in the form of an open slot to receive a conductor wire fulcrumed across said male jaw, said fingers being reentrant into the space between the jaws and positioned to latch around and beneath said shoulder in the closed position of the connector;

said apex bight having a notch traversing said apex bight in a direction parallel to the major longitudinal axis of the connector and adapted to receive and cradle a conductor wire in position for clamping between said jaws.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,152,892 9/1915 Henry 24-155 1,705,579 3/1929 Lutz 339-266 FOREIGN PATENTS 703,232 3/1941 Germany.

MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner J. H. MCGLYNN, Assistant Examiner 'U. S. Cl. X.R. 

